Like this:

There’s a cafe here in Vancouver, Eternal Abundance, that is amazing! They have this Super Salad that I love and will buy on occasion; however, I can’t buy it every day so I’ve made a few attempts at recreating it on my own. I think I did a pretty good job with this one.

Salad:
Short grain brown rice (cooked as you see fit – I kept it simple with just water)
Kale-slaw mix from Whole Foods (Kale, carrots, red and green cabbage)
Red and Green Peppers
Avocado
Sprouts
*I would have also added cucumber and celery, but I kept them separate for an afternoon snack.
**Obviously add any other veggies you want!

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Orange Juice (I cut about 1/3 of an orange off and squeezed it)
Miso (about a table spoon??)
Garlic (1 clove, crushed)
Ginger (1 inch, crushed/chopped)
*Sorry, I have no idea how much of everything I put in, just work it around until it tastes right to you 🙂

Like this:

As my Vegan Experiment comes to an end and I start to reintroduce foods, what I had hoped would happen is actually happening! I am starting to question What I want, Why I want it, and Do I really want it or do I just want it because I can, and because I had wanted it either before this experiment started or during the experiment.

Throughout this month I have wanted everything, even the things I don’t normally eat and I figured out that I wanted those things because they were magically taken off my options list. Now that I’m looking to eat those foods again, I’m questioning if I actually really do want to reintroduce certain foods, just because I can.

At Whole Foods over the weekend I found myself confused about what to buy; why did I want a salad with egg and cheese? Was that what my body was really asking for or was I tempted by the option of having it? Would it make me feel good after eating it, or would it just make my tastebuds happy? I bought the eggs, but abstained from the cheese; I have yet to do anything with the eggs.

I also purchased two amazing milk chocolate bars, that are currently sitting, unopened, in my fridge… Prior to this month, I had gotten into a habit of eating A LOT of chocolate, consistently; after almost 31 days of (mostly) avoiding chocolate, my habit feels broken. And I’m calling it a habit, because eating chocolate wasn’t for enjoyment, it was because it was there and I wanted it. To be honest, I’m actually scared to break that barrier and have a piece of chocolate.

Overall the experiment has actually been what I needed: insight into my habits and an opportunity to break some of those habits. It also provided me with a better understanding of why diets fail and reaffirmed my belief that the best way to “diet” is to create small, sustainable lifestyle changes that focus on adding instead of taking away.

I am excited to eat certain foods again, but I will eat those foods with more awareness; something I’m hoping will last as this experiment fades in my memory. Who knows, I may pick it back up again in the future, but for now, I’m happy to remove the label! First thing on my list? Salmon! I don’t know if I’ve ever craved it as much as I have for this past month.

Like this:

A few months ago my best friend suggested going vegan for a month. My eating habits lean towards clean vegetarian most of the time so I figured it wouldn’t be that hard. Boy was I wrong!

As someone who makes ethical food choices and avoids restricting food (unless there is a physical reason to do so), restricting my food to this level has been more of a mental challenge than a physical one. Even with my busy and active schedule, my energy levels have been fine and I haven’t found any issues recovering from my activities. I also haven’t noticed a change in my mental capacity; what has changed though is my desire for foods I don’t normally eat!

Prior to starting this experiment, I don’t remember the last time I ate cheese; since starting this month of veganism, my brain has told me every day that I want cheese. Thankfully, these aren’t physical cravings (like I sometimes get for DQ Blizzards), but just the fact that “I can’t” means that “I want”.

This experiment is teaching me that, just like when we were children and someone told us we weren’t allowed to do something, when we put restrictions on ourselves, all we want is what has been restricted.

My overall philosophy on food is to eat good, healthy food that is enjoyable, but don’t deamonize “treat” foods.

If you don’t find healthy foods enjoyable, begin by making small transitions, not massive overhauls; and avoid labelling foods as “bad”. When we set strict rules, deprivation follows; and deprivation leads to binging on what has been placed off limits.

If I’m trying to adjust a recipe to make it healthier, I start by substituting one ingredient; if that works, I’ll try substituting two ingredients the next time. This can be done with a recipe, a snack, a meal, a day, a week…wherever you start is perfectly wonderful! It’s all about starting the journey to a life-long, sustainable change.

As for me, I will continue this experiment until February 6. After that I will be back to my normal food habits: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” (Michael Pollen); “I’m a human, I eat food” (Alannah). When I do eat meat, I try to select healthy, local, organic/wild meat. And I will do my best not to binge on everything I currently “want” because I know I actually only want it because I “can’t” have it.

Like this:

Sometimes I get so excited about healthy food that I get overwhelmed and end up ordering take-out…not tonight!

After a morning of sweaty fun (hiked up Grouse Grind then went to a flow yoga class), I was about to drag myself off to Whole Foods to stock-up for dinner when I realized I actually had everything I needed to try Cashew Alfredo on quinoa pasta (I love GoGo Quinoa) with broccoli! Woohoo!

Like this:

Sometimes (most of the time), I’m a bad grocery shopper. I love grocery shopping so much, I’ll actually “window shop” at the grocery store! Anyway, the other day I was on my way home from visiting my grandma and found myself at Whole Foods (aka my favourite store). It was actually time to stock up for the week, but I found myself unprepared, as in, I had no idea what I wanted to be eating for lunches this week, never mind breakfast and dinner! As I stared, bright-eyed, at the produce, I thought: “BEETS! Oooh, and KALE!” Ok, I had a path… “Oh, and goat feta!” Done!

*I learned how to strip kale from its icky (and wonderful, life-giving) stalk this weekend: hold the stem in one hand and the base of the green leaves with the other hand, pull the hand holding the green leaves away from the hand holding the stalk and voila! let there be stalk-less kale leaves!

Once my kale was stripped, I chopped it up and put it into a bowl. Instead of massaging each piece (like I’ve done for kale chips), I grabbed handfuls and squished it (like balling dough).

I roasted my beets (with their skins and stems) in a 450 degree oven, covered, for about 1 hour, rotating every 15 minutes or so or until I could poke them with a chopstick. After letting the beets cool, I peeled the skins off and chopped them up.

I made quinoa (with avocado, cucumber and Spike, wrapped in nori sheets) for dinner so it was an afterthought addition to the salad.

I mixed the kale and beets with a little lemon juice then added some quinoa, apple cider vinegar, and the goat feta in the morning; shake-shake-shake and yum!

Like this:

Recently, juicing has become uber popular! As much as I’d like a juicer, I know that realistically I don’t have the time to use it enough to justify the cost and space 😦 I’m extremely lucky that I live in a city that has cold pressed, fresh, organic juices readily available; however, they are expensive! So, I’ve put my $50 blender to use and created my own “juice”.

The first green smoothie came about because I had eaten too much meat over the previous days and was talking to my mum about feeling “blah” and uninterested in food. Our conversation turned to what I had in my fridge and the below Vegetable Drawer Juice came about.

Like this:

I’m lucky, I know, I’ve been blessed with good genetics and brought up by a mum who taught me to eat because I needed to. This meant small, clean, simple meals using olive oil and spices for the flavours instead of butter and cream. This upbringing has instilled a love of healthy foods with some treats thrown in the mix (I have a nasty sweet tooth and minimal willpower) and the ability to make healthy food that (I think) tastes good!

It saddens me when people aren’t excited to eat a “healthy” meal – a bed of lettuce with fresh veggies, lean protein and some lemon juice dressing – because they feel they’re limited to the boring and mundane. I know we all get into food ruts, but these ruts shouldn’t be caused by limiting your food options due to a diet! That, my friends, leads to a very viscous cycle of deprivation followed by indulgence, followed by…

It’s hard to reverse cravings you’ve spent a lifetime developing, but there are ways to minimize them, and I’m not going to tell you to drink water and wait 15 minutes, because, although wonderful in theory, does not work when my brain latches onto a Blizzard craving! My three craving-busting tips are:

Work out! When a craving hits, work it off before you eat it, this does two things 1) gives you a workout, which leads to 2) raises your endorphin levels and lowers your desire for crap food

Think about your craving and ask yourself if it’s really worth it, if the answer is “yes, if I don’t give into this craving I’m going to eat far more”, then

Give in! Make the conscious decision to enjoy whatever it is you’re craving, and maybe order the smallest, pre-portioned size (not the family-sized bag of M&M’s because they’re on sale)

A point about number 2 up there; a lot of times, we try to replace the real thing with a “more healthy” substitution, these substitutions are usually chemical sh*t storms developed in a lab as an attempt to fool your body, they don’t work. If you’re craving sugar, don’t try to replace it with an artificial sweetener! However, if you’ve thought about your craving and have decided you can do better, a little honey won’t hurt.

Be conscious of your cravings and, as I’ve said before, add so many wonderful, healthy, clean, natural FOODS that you don’t have space for the junk anymore.

So onto the healthy tips:

Use onions, garlic, spices, chili flakes… Chili flakes have become my go-to when a dish is lacking a little je ne sais quoi.

Use millet (just bought some and excited to experiment!), quiona, zucchini, squash, rice noodles, rice, tofu noodles… there are so many options these days, play with them!

Know your comfort foods. I LOVE spaghetti, maybe because we ate a lot of it when I was growing up, but, good golly, do I ever love it! But here’s the thing, my spaghetti sauce is loaded with spinach (or Kale), onions, garlic and organic tofu (or extra lean meat).

Play with methods of preparing your food. Bored with baked chicken breast? Try stir-frying it for a salad topper.

Did I mention spices!? Play! Get creative!

Jump onto Pintrest to see what others are doing. When I was getting back into shrimp, I searched Pintrest for shrimp recipes and was amazed with all the options.

Try to know what you’re eating. If you can’t/don’t know how/don’t have time to make it yourself, do your best to find a product as close to how you would make it if you could.

In the words of Michael Pollan: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”

There is no magic pill, no magic workout, no replacement for eating good (tasty) food and sweating once a day.

So first up, an update, the day after I posted about the fitness photo shoot, it was canceled. I had to decide if I wanted to set one up myself or keep the deadline just ’cause or scrap it. I was toying with at least keeping the deadline, then my twitter feed was inundated with Kate Upton on the cover of Sports Illustrated and I decided I quite like my fit, yet curvy body! The silver lining is I remembered I love lifting weights and will try to do so at least twice a week 🙂 If the opportunity presents itself again, I might say yes, but for now, I’m happy with where I am.

I used honey and Nature’s Path Crispy Rice cereal (it’s gluten free) and I forgot to use my trusty protein powder. With that being said, they came out a little dry and crumbly. I threw them in the oven for a moment to soften up the peanut butter and honey…still a little crumbly. Will add a small amount of water next time, or less rice cereal and oats.

Flourless Banana Muffins
Adapted from this recipe. The original called for 2 bananas and 3 eggs and no “flour” of any kind, but I wanted a different texture so this is what I came up with: